Villagers claim compensation from Adaro over environmental damage

The people of the Desa Kasiau Village in Murung Pudak district, Tabalong regency, South Kalimantan demanded coal mining giant PT Adaro Indonesia to pay compensation because waste from the company?s coal production had caused pollution to the local river, which in turn damaged the farming land.

The Banjarmasin Post daily quoted one of the protesting villager as saying that the villagers could no longer make farming activity for two and a half years due to the coal waste material.

The paper said that the villagers had sent a letter to Adaro. Copies of the letter were also sent to the local environmental watchdog agencies Bapedalda, and Walhi.

The paper said that the villagers had initially made a protest earlier this year but came out with no concrete result. It said that in February this year, Bapedalda had issued a report saying that the pollution at the local river had already reached beyond the tolerable level.

The paper could not get confirmation from Adaro. The coal mining firm is owned by Indonesian, Australian and American investors.(*)